If your Squarespace site has equivalent pages for more than one language (or region), hreflang is how you tell search engines which version belongs to which audience. Without it, Google may show the wrong version in search results.
This guide covers what hreflang is, when it’s required, and how to add it correctly on Squarespace using the HTML method. It is intentionally practical and assumes you already have different URLs for different language versions. If you don’t, see our guide to creating a multilingual Squarespace site.
Hreflang is an HTML annotation that tells search engines which language or regional audience a specific page is intended for. It’s used to connect equivalent pages across languages—not to translate content or improve rankings.
How to Add hreflang on Squarespace
When you manually build a multilingual site on Squarespace, the platform doesn’t add hreflang automatically. You must create the tags yourself, although AI tools can help generate the hreflang markup.
Create the Tags. Paste a list of corresponding URLs into ChatGPT or Gemini and ask it to generate hreflang tags, then review the output carefully for accuracy.
If your URL structure clearly includes language or language-country codes (for example /en/ and /es/), the mappings are straightforward. Otherwise, explicitly specify the language for each URL. Only include a country code if the page is specifically targeted to that country.
Add the Tags. For each translated page: open Page Settings > go to Advanced > paste the hreflang tags in Page Header Code Injection. Use the same structure on every equivalent page.
Validate the Tags. Use a free tool to validate each URL.
What hreflang Does (and What It Doesn’t)
Hreflang is a signal, not a ranking factor. It tells search engines that multiple URLs contain equivalent content intended for different languages or regions. Hreflang:
helps Google serve the right version of your content in search results
reduces cross-language confusion
does not boost rankings by itself
does not replace good SEO fundamentals
If pages aren’t equivalent, they shouldn’t be connected with hreflang.
When You Need hreflang
You should use hreflang when:
your multilingual website has separate URLs for the same content in different languages: /en/about and /es/about, or
you target different regions with equivalent content: en-us and en-gb
You do not need hreflang when:
a page has no translated equivalent
content is only browser-translated
languages are mixed on a single page (this is not recommended)
Only pages with true equivalents need hreflang.
How hreflang Relationships Work
Hreflang relationships must be explicit and complete.
Each page must:
reference itself, and
reference each equivalent page, and
be referenced back by those equivalents
This means hreflang is bidirectional. One-way tags are ignored.
Language-Only Example (Most Common)
Use this format when targeting languages, not countries.
The same code can be placed on both the English and the Spanish pages:
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en" href="https://example.com/en/contact" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="es" href="https://example.com/es/contacto" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/en/contact" />Each page:
references itself
references the alternate
uses valid ISO language codes
The x-default value is optional but recommended—it specifies the fallback page for users whose language or region settings don’t match any localized version.
Language + Region Example
Use language + region codes only when content is specifically tailored to a country—not when it’s simply translated.
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-us" href="https://example.com/us/services" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="en-gb" href="https://example.com/uk/services" />
<link rel="alternate" hreflang="x-default" href="https://example.com/us/services" />Notes:
Use ISO 639-1 language codes and ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes.
If content isn’t country-specific, use language-only hreflang instead.
Common Implementation Rules
Use one method (HTML or sitemap). For Squarespace sites, HTML is the most straightforward.
Only tag pages with true equivalents.
Keep URLs exact.
Validating hreflang Today
Google no longer shows the old International Targeting report, but you can still validate hreflang by:
using reputable third-party hreflang validators
confirming tags are present and reciprocal
inspecting pages in Search Console (URL Inspection)
Indexing can take time, especially on new sites. Absence of immediate confirmation isn’t an error by itself.
What to Avoid
Some common reasons hreflang fails include:
One-way hreflang links
Invalid language or country codes
Tagging pages without equivalents
For Google’s official guidance, see their documentation on implementing hreflang.
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